Boundary barney v2

MOSMAN PARK council has backed a new push from North Freo residents to defect from Fremantle council.

Following residents’ failed attempt to get the Local Government Advisory Board to shift the boundary in 2015, a new and wider-ranging proposal that takes in the entire suburb is being prepared.

The initial submission requested the section of North Fremantle from the Dingo Flour Mill on Stirling Highway to the area just past McCabe Street become part of Mosman Park.

More than 200 residents in and around Minim Cove have signed a petition supporting the new move.

Mosman Park mayor Ron Norris says that “a major drive in the recent request from residents is due to the building fabric around Minim Cove.”

“It seems to be a logical solution,” he says.

“The current boundary has created issues such as traffic management for Mosman Park which is on land that is effectively controlled by North Fremantle.”

At their last meeting, Mosman Park councillors voted to give the residents’ campaign “in-principle support and assistance”.

North Fremantle resident Geoff Totterdell led the fight to change the boundary two years ago, but says the current push is being driven by concerns about fire hazards and insurance concerns, which don’t affect him, so he was not in a position to comment.

It might not be a one-way transfer, with Mosman Park council candidate Andrew Wilson suggesting his ritzy enclave’s public housing tenants should be dumped in Fremantle because it has a Centrelink and other appropriate facilities.

“Everyday a break-in occurs in Mosman Park, and we all know it’s due to the housing commission,” he said in a statement.

The Herald contacted Fremantle North Ward councillor Doug Thompson for comment, but he didn’t get back to us before deadline.